Thursday, April 20, 2006

The Noble NoZe Brotherhood ... at Wikipedia?

Readers may recall that I 'fessed up to having been a member of Baylor University's Noble NoZe Brotherhood during my callow youthful college 'daze' ... which may help explain some of my occasional absurdist humor.

Be that as it may, I was surprised to find a Wikipedia entry on the NoZe Brotherhood. It's full of lies, fabricated scandals, and outright slander directed at the Noble NoZe!

I proudly added a few of my own.

I see from Googling that the NoZe Brothers celebrated their 80th anniversary this year, according to an article in the Waco Tribune Herald, which means that the Brotherhood was founded in 1926.

That's a lie! It was founded in 1924, precisely as the Wikipedia entry states!

Actually, that's also a lie.

In truth, the NoZe Brotherhood was founded before the foundations of the world but lay hidden away among the deep things of Elmo the Lightning God until its revelation in these latter days.

Hmmm ... I ought to add this fact to Wikipedia's store of lore about the NoZe.

Anyway, speaking of the NoZe religion, my official post in my NoZe days was "Keeper of the Prayer," which went something like this:

The Brotherhood had bequeathed me this honored "Pray-er" position in virtue of my obvious qualifications.

Namely, my NoZe moniker: "Brother AgNoZetic."

As you can surmise, we were a pretty silly organization, and intentionally so, but belonging to the NoZe gave one a certain cachet ... except that one's membership was supposed to remain so damned anonymous.

Yet despite our Groucho Marxnoses, big wigs, and shabby tuxedos, other students managed to see through the disguise.

Hey! Wow. So I am a Baylor Freshman and The Noze is holding the annual paper pickup tomorrow and I have no topic! I am getting desperate. So if you can, why don't you help a girl out here and tell me the secret of creating a story? After all a Noze Knows...You can find me at lostinmyinsanity@gmail.com...

Anonymous, unfortunately, I never see the comments made on old posts, so I am unaware of your request for the secret to writing a humorous article for Unrush that will get you into the NoZe, and I therefore cannot advise you to simply be yourself -- so long as your self is funny.

About Me

During working hours, I can be found at Ewha Womans University, where I hold an academic position identified as "Professor" according to the title on my office door. At Ewha, I teach essay composition, research writing, and cultural issues, including the occasional graduate seminar on Gnosticism and Johannine theology and the occasional undergraduate course on European history.
My doctorate is in history (U.C. Berkeley), with emphasis on religion and science, and my thesis is on John's gospel and Gnostic texts.
I'm originally from the Arkansas Ozarks, but my academic career -- at times funded through doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships (e.g., Fulbright, Naumann, Lady Davis) -- has taken me through stints in Texas, California, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and Israel and has landed me in Seoul, South Korea. I've also traveled to Mexico, visited much of Europe, including Moscow, and touched down briefly in a few East Asian countries.
Hence: "Gypsy Scholar."